In the wake of the Last Music Co's four-CD set of Chris Barber's music released in 2021, and largely consisting of previously issued material, Paul Adams at Lake Records has compiled a remarkable set of CDs with virtually no duplication and a staggering 105 tracks of hitherto unissued material by Chris, who died in 2021.

Whereas the Last Music Co set takes in Chris's work with visiting blues and gospel musicians, plus one or two of his forays into the rock world, this Lake box focuses on the development of Barber's own bands, from his first revivalist efforts in the late 1940s to the popular Big Chris Barber Band which he led from the millennium until his retirement in 2019. Barber always recorded somewhat more than his record companies were able to release, and in latter years, made sure that dozens of his live concerts were documented. Paul Adams diligently listened through around 200 sessions to arrive at this anthology, and he has made excellent efforts to present everything in good quality, despite source material varying from 78s through to recordings made not only in studios, but in settings as varied as small clubs and giant concert halls.

The result is a first-rate tour through over 50 years of Barber's career as a bandleader, and consistent reminders why his band remained popular not just in the UK, but in continental Europe as well. We hear the early line-up (under Ken Colyer's leadership), the features for clarinetists Monty Sunshine and Ian Wheeler, the move into rhythm and blues with the addition of John Slaughter and later Roger Hill on guitar, and Barber's fascination with music that sits way outside ‘trad’ territory.

There's also ample evidence of the charismatic singing of Ottilie Patterson, on several songs that she did not otherwise record. It is impossible to pick individual tracks as highlights – there are too many. But from the 1950s six-piece, via the “jazz and blues” band, to the long-lived eight-piece, and then the Ellingtonian big band, this is a pefect way both to remember Barber for those who knew and loved his music, or to discover him for the first time.